Wally West is the newest Rogue in The Flash's Rogues Gallery, with superspeed nearly as impressive as the Flash's own. Hunter Zolomon is the Flash's sidekick, so he's going to bring down this new thief...
Wait, what?
A brilliant Alternate Universe Fic by "X meets Y" originally started on the Young Justice (2010) anonymous meme that features Wally as the Kid, a new wise-cracking thief, who struggles to balance his civilian life (and his relationships with his uncle, aunt, and friend Hunter) with his new criminal career. Of course, things are never that simple...
The original, unfinished version can be read here
. The in-progress rewrite can be read here or here.
Relevant tropes:
- Abusive Parents: Wally's dad ignored him for years, and when he finally did take notice, he attacks Wally and steals the notebook which contained the notes on Wally's experiment.
- Adaptational Villainy: Rudolph West wasn't a good guy in the comics, but he was in Young Justice (2010) series, and he's gone back to being a bad guy in this story.
- Affably Evil: Blacksmith is depicted this way, mostly because working with a network of even more dangerous criminals requires civility and careful negotiation.
- All There in the Manual: The comments contain a lot of extra material.
- Amicable Exes: After breaking up, Hunter and Ashley have since made up and are on speaking terms again.
- An Ice Person: Captain Cold. Chillblaine.
- Ascended Fanboy: Wally was a fan of the Flash II (Barry Allen), who was a fan of the first Flash (Jay Garrick). Ironically: Wally was a fan of the Flash and became a criminal; Hunter was more fascinated by criminals than heroes but became a vigilante.
- Bait the Dog: Blacksmith starts off seeming fairly civilized at first but shows her true colors later.
- Batman Gambit: Wally's dad sets up a pretty cruel one to have a distraught Wally letting him into the house with his guard down.
- Becoming the Mask: After Wally begins interacting with the other Rogues, he begins acting a little more boldly and a little less concerned with his own morality.
- Beneath the Mask: How Wally acts while wearing a mask is drastically different from how he acts without it. Which personality is more natural to him is debatable.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: In a conversation with Iris and Hunter, Barry wished for another speedster to exist. He got it but the guy's on the wrong side of the law.
- Berserk Button: So far, the Kid's been smart enough not to bring up the Golden Glider around the Rogues.
- Big Brother Mentor: Barry to Hunter.
- Black Market: The Network is set up to be one of these.
- Cerebus Syndrome: The rebooted version was supposed to become more serious earlier in the story, but the addition of arcs and subplots is making the tone shift more gradual.
- Celibate Hero: For a while, Wally and Hunter, both of whom had relationships that ended poorly. This was later one of the factors that influenced their decisions to avoid close interpersonal relationships.
- Cliffhanger: Oh so much. Author is practically abusing this trope.
- Collateral Angst: It's a superhero thing. Hunter's been known to put himself through it from time to time. From a limited point of view, Wally may also count, feeling responsible when Hunter injured his leg. To be fair, he was.
- Combat Pragmatist: Rather than stick around for a fight, Wally would rather run away. At one point, when he couldn't run away from a fight, he played dead. In one of the first and few times he was the one to pick the fight, he ran in, grabbed Weather Wizard, and dragged him away from the rest of the Rogues.
- Create Your Own Villain: The three speedsters of the Blue Trinity already had superspeed when Wally first encountered them, but with his formula, they get an increased speed boost. Wally knows what’ll happen if the formula gets mass produced and is trying to stop it from happening.
- Deadpan Snarker: Wally has his moments.
- Defeat by Modesty: Kid manages to get away from Arsenal and Superboy by kissing the first and groping the other.
- Demoted to Extra: The Team and the League, with a few exceptions.
- Divorce Assets Conflict: It effectively turning his family into what they are today. Before that, they were relatively ordinary and well-balanced, money issues aside.
- Double Meaning: The conversation that took place between Kaldur and Hunter towards the end of Marathon could be read with an entirely different context if read with the implication that Hunter had feelings for Kaldur.Kaldur: I'm sorry. I thought you could handle things without me.
Hunter: Well, now you know: I couldn’t! I... Look, it’s not... Okay, embarrassing levels of codependence aside, without you, we nearly lost the team.
[...]
Hunter: I broke it off. Things weren’t working out. What about you?”
Kaldur:: Roy and I are dating. Which is actually why I wanted to speak to you.
Hunter: Oh. ...Oh. Wait, did you think I was going to be weird over it? Have some faith in me, I’m not an asshole. Not that kind, anyway. - Drill Sergeant Nasty: Garth unfortunately underestimates how intensively Artemis trains.
- Dragon-in-Chief: Magenta is this to Blacksmith. She's more powerful than Blacksmith, but plays a smaller role in the Network syndicate due to the fact that Blacksmith is the Chessmaster and she is more of the muscle.
- Dysfunctional Family: Wally's started pretty normal but things went downhill later on. Now it's at a relatively steady level of functional.
- Embarrassing First Name: Wallace West. Leonard Snart.
- Emergency Stash: Because he has to avoid the Flash, he keeps stashes of different clothes in various places in the city.
- Enhance Button: Batman has the resources and technology to enhance a low-quality image, but not enough to make out any particular facial features on the Kid.
- Establishing Character Moment: Wally interrupts Cold's jewelry store robbery and steals the goods himself. Zoom’s first action upon meeting Wally is to deliver a backhanded insult.
- Subverted in story. Zoom's first impression of Wally wasn't very flattering, with Wally appearing to be hiding behind his aunt in the face of a dangerous criminal. In those few seconds, Zoom dismissed Wally as being cowardly, boring, and not too adventurous. Zoom then realized there were Hidden Depths when Wally proved bold enough to help him in a fight with the Mirror Master, his curiosity being one of the main reasons they became friends.
- Even Evil Has Standards: The Rogues. They refuse to "rock the boat"; as long as they don't go around crossing the
Moral Event Horizon they don't have to worry about anyone besides Flash and Zoom. They're even horrified to learn what Wally's dad did to him. Unfortunately, Wally's presence is inadvertently bringing in trouble anyway... - Evil Feels Good: The Kid is basically one giant form of catharsis for Wally.
- Evil Mentor: The Rogues to the Kid. They're not furtive about it though. It was pretty clear that they weren't tax-paying first-class citizens.
- Extra-ore-dinary: Blacksmith can turn into metal, Girder is made of metal scraps, and Magenta has magnetic, metal-manipulating powers.
- Face Plant: It's not a prime example of a slapstick moment, but Captain Cold is pretty amused when the Kid hits the concrete.
- Femme Fatale: Amunet "Blacksmith" Black, head of the Network.
- Fights Like a Normal: Hunter doesn't have much control over his time-manipulating powers, so he only uses it to affect his own movement. He doesn't have the advantages of things like super speed or strength and has to train to fight like Artemis and Robin.
- For Want Of A Nail: Why did this Wally become the Kid instead of Kid Flash? The insurance in Central City became too expensive.
- There’s a playful Take That! at superhero comics where the hero gain their abilities or tragic backstories through accidents, implying that technology is more advanced in this universe and that superheroes are more prolific because the Occupational Safety Hazards Administration is, for the most part, ignored.
- Functional Addict: Wally can’t bring himself to stop his illegal activities but doesn’t let it wreak too much havoc on his personal life.
- Gentleman Thief: The Kid appears to be this at first. A closer look, and he's actually a kid running around in grown up clothes.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: Zoom's eyes glow red. Weather Wizard has yellow-gold eyes.
- Hands-Off Parenting: Wally pretty much had this, even before it turned into neglect.
- Happily Adopted: Hunter was never officially adopted by the Allens or Garricks, but he’s incredibly close to both couples and is a part of the Flash family.
- Happily Married: Barry and Iris. They want to have a baby.
- Harmless Freezing: Captain Cold's guns are designed to stop motion, not shoot ice, so the ice crystals don't break the cells and prove lethal right away.
- Heel–Face Turn: Harley AKA the Pied Piper.
- Hero Insurance: Wasn't big back in the day.
- Horrible Judge of Character: It's a little understandable that most people don't understand the kind of person Wally is, but even Hunter, who became friends with him because he realized Wally had more depth than he originally seemed, falls for Wally's lies, and even when he's not fooled, he still considers Wally trustworthy.
- Incompatible Orientation: Hartley harbors feelings for James, though neither of them ever address it directly.
- In Spite of a Nail: The universe may differ from Earth-16 and the DCU/DCnU, but some things remain the same: Ashley and Hunter had broken up, Hunter injures his knee, Wally ends up back in Central and has Superspeed, Wally and Dick kind of gravitate towards each other (until circumstances has Dick backing off), and Wally's hoarding and souvenir collecting is still similar to the Earth-16 Kid Flash's.
- It Gets Easier: Wally doesn't feel bad about his double life very much anymore.
- It's Personal: Nearly said word-for-word by Roy on why the Kid is so determined to bust V9. Not that he's wrong.
- This is also why Wally goes after the Rogues after the incident with the Weather Wizard and his mom.
- Just Friends: Wally and Hunter are these to each other though everyone around them thinks they're more than that.
- Karma Houdini: Wally is getting away with pretty much everything so far.
- Knee Capping: The Kid accidentally does this to Zoom in a fight, not expecting to do as much damage as it did.
- The Lancer: The Pied Piper was one to Captain Cold before he left the Rogues.
- Lovable Rogue: The Kid, of course. Arguably, the rest of the rogues.
- Make Me Wanna Shout: One of the Pied Piper's sound-manipulating devices is a sonic projector covering his face that allows him to send messages and use an incapacitating noise against his enemies.
- Mama Bear: Iris stood up to Captain Boomerang in order to protect Wally.
- Misery Builds Character: Hunter believes in this a bit, though he also accepts the fact that character isn't necessarily positive or negative trait.
- Mistaken for Junkie: Because it’s easier than telling the truth, Wally just goes with it.
- Motive Decay: In-universe example. The Kid went from stealing to support himself to stealing to spite people to it just being a habit.
- My God, What Have I Done?: When Hunter makes a mistake and is left alone, he melts into a puddle of this.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Arsenal was an alias Roy used when he went undercover as the muscle for an underground heroin ring.
- Nebulous Criminal Conspiracy
- Never Hurt an Innocent: The Rogues usually try to avoid fatalities. ‘Usually’ and ‘try’ being the key words. Sometimes there are temptations.
- Non-Action Guy: Everyone thinks Wally is this.
- Noodle Implements: Iris keeps track of all of Barry and Hunter's accomplishments and adventures. Included in her collection of newspaper clippings and video recordings is a blackmail-worthy fight between Zoom and the Pied Piper that Hunter would rather not talk about.
- No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup: Averted when one of Wally’s formulas is stolen and then used against him.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: The Rogues (and Wally among them) aren't taken very seriously by most of the criminal population and some of the public population either, but whenever there's a situation serious enough for them to get their act together, the Rogues are a dangerous group.
- Odd Friendship: Robin and the Kid are developing this.
- Oh, Crap!: Wally's reaction to Zoom being part of the trap for him.
- Orphanage of Fear: Averted. Hunter lived in a foster/group home, and while he wasn’t happy in it, the conditions were roughly standard. Played straight, though, with Red X, where
Word of God says he's a runaway from a Gotham orphanage. - Parental Neglect: Rudy and Mary West, but she got better.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: Wally tried this when he thought the Rogues initiated an attack on his mother.
- Potential Applications: One of the reasons why a formula for superspeed is so sought after and feared is because of all the ways it could be used. It goes beyond Wally's hit and run tactics: Barry can use his speed to vibrate his molecules and phase through solid objects, and Wally can use it to blow objects up. There were even once reports of speedsters whose method of fighting involved vibrating their molecules as they ran through people, ripping them apart.
- Put on a Bus: The Pied Piper
- The Profiler: Ashley Fox and Hunter Zolomon.
- Race Lift: Ashley Fox is half-Hispanic. Blacksmith is half-African American. Hunter is Ambiguously Brown and is peripherally aware he's of mixed race from his father's side of the family but doesn't really remember the details.
- Real Name as an Alias: For a little while, Wally’s father, Rudy, goes by his legal first name, Robert. This much later provides Wally a clue as to his father's intentions for the money he getting for the drugs.
- Recursive Fanfiction: Can be found here.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Somewhat averted. Zoom is a superhero, but he's not exactly a great one. If his eyes turn red, it's probably because someone is about to get their butt kicked.
- Replacement Scrappy: An In-Universe example, as Hunter mildly views Garth, the second Aqualad, as a poor replacement for Kaldur but is willing to help him adjust to working above sea level anyway.
- Retcon: A revised version is being uploaded with additional scenes and can be found here.
- Roofhopping: Wally uses this while being chased to test the extent Zoom's abilities and conclude that Zoom's ability is time-manipulation, not superspeed.
- Secret Secret-Keeper: Wally is one for Zoom aka Hunter. He even went as far as fighting and lying to the rogues out of costume to keep him from being discovered. Of course, Captain Cold wasn't fooled.
- Serial Killer: Before Hunter’s father committed suicide by cop, he was a serial killer who targeted young girls. Magenta's role in the Network is as Amunet's right hand, which usually entails offing people.
- Shipper on Deck: Iris tries to set up Hunter and Wally as friends. When Barry tells her that Hunter and Wally were out having dinner together, she automatically assumes and then spreads the assumption that they're dating.
- Shirtless Scene: Wally hangs out at the Rogue hideout shirtless for a while until he recovers from his injuries enough to go back to his own personal hideout to find some new clothes.
- Shouldn't You Stop Stealing?: The Kid really could have retired from stealing a long time ago.
- Shout-Out: In a text conversation between Wally and his father, his father mentions air hockey, which is a vague reference to the Young Justice episode "Schooled" where Wally and Kaldur played air hockey.
- A teenage Phantom Thief called Kid?
- A facility called "H&G Self-Storage on 1901 Wells Street" references a science fiction story written by H.G. Wells in 1901 where a scientist creates a drug that gives the user superspeed, which turns out to be both a blessing and a curse.
- Show Within a Show: There are references to the Flaming C and Hello Megan. Hartley and David also mention a movie called Space Ninja, which in the comics was one of the movies that Daniel Cassidy, aka the Blue Devil, worked special effects on.
- Shrouded in Myth: The Kid never interacted with other villains and never went through the process of creating a "supervillain identity", so no one knew much about him until he moved to Central, where he ended up drawing the Rogues' attention. Even afterwards, the Rogues avoided exposing the Kid to other criminals. As a result, many people know about the Kid's existence but are left guessing about the Kid himself.
- Sidekick Graduations Stick: Red Arrow and Aquarius.
- Spanner in the Works: Due to Wally's unique placement between the heroes and the criminals, there's always the possibility that one side is going to interfere with the other.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Roy was never kidnapped and cloned due to the For Want Of A Nail plot.
- Stairs Are Faster: In a scene where he's trying to keep Hunter and Captain Cold from running into each other, Wally manages to get ahead of Hunter this way.
- Stealth Pun: On the team, Karen is second-in-command to Dick, who is sort of guiding her into leadership. Together, they’re the bird and the bee.
- Superpower Lottery: Miss Martian as lampshaded by The Kid.
- Tempting Fate: The Kid is taking more and more risks as he successfully gets away with, well, everything.
- There Are No Therapists: Subverted. Black Canary acts as an unofficial therapist for the team offscreen, but Zoom usually more or less knows when to keep his mouth shut.
- Time Master: Zoom.
- Time Stands Still: In a story with a speedsters and a character who can manipulate time, it happens.
- Token Good Teammate: First, the Rogues had the Pied Piper. Now they have the Kid.
- Twice Shy: Neither Wally nor Hunter can be really described as shy, but Wally’s last relationship ended with him being outed at school, and Hunter’s last and only relationship fell apart after he made a bad call as Zoom and his girlfriend’s father was killed as a result. They both use their extracurricular activities as an excuse to avoid personal relationships.
- Unresolved Sexual Tension: Wally and Hunter. Even Cold could see it.
- Upbringing Makes the Hero: When Hunter first got his powers, Barry and Jay were worried about how he’d turn out. Both of his parents were dead (one parent was a serial killer, the other was his last victim) which meant he lacked any suitable role models and was alienating himself from other people. Because of their concerns, Barry and Jay looked after him and raised him the guided him the best they could as he grew up.
- What Were You Thinking??: Wally plans and takes extra precautions not to get caught because of all he has to risk, but he's still prone to recklessness when he comes across things he didn't plan for. For instance, his failed attack on the Rogues. Hunter also frequently has these moments, where he generally disregards civilian safety when he gets into fights.
- What the Hell, Hero?: It's kind of Wally's thing for most of the story. Then there's Kaldur for leaving the team to help Roy, which wasn't necessarily a terrible thing, but the team was nearly broke up after that until Robin reluctantly took over after him. Roy started investigating a drug ring and was about to a part of it himself. Hunter sometimes has this tendency to ignore civilian safety in favor of pursuing a criminal.
- Wild Card: Wally. So long as he doesn't get caught, he doesn't care what side he's on.
- Wouldn't Hurt a Child: Played with. The Rogues have a rule against hurting women and children, but when The Kid attacks first, they don't hesitate to fight back. They do show some restraint after he's taken down.
